O Lord, how long will you forget me? Forever? How long will you look the other way? 2 How long must I struggle with anguish in my soul, with sorrow in my heart every day? How long will my enemy have the upper hand? 3 Turn and answer me, O Lord my God! Restore the sparkle to my eyes, or I will die. 4 Don’t let my enemies gloat, saying, “We have defeated him!” Don’t let them rejoice at my downfall. 5 But I trust in your unfailing love. I will rejoice because you have rescued me. 6 I will sing to the Lord because he is good to me. (Psalm 13 ~NLT)
Solomon ends the book of Koheleth with a solemn warning cleverly wrapped in fatherly admonishment. “Think thou upon thy Creator… before… the time of thy torment come, and the years… of which thou shalt say, These days do not please me at all…” (Eccl 12:1 ~Wycliffe Bible WYC). Inevitably, trouble is bound to pounce on each of us sooner rather than later. When it strikes, it’d rather find us prepared, or it could realize its ruinous scheme.
David, the shepherd boy who became king of Israel after Saul, was a righteous man. Yet, he was a man well acquainted with grief! To a lot of Christian folks, that might sound like an oxymoron—a self-contradicting statement. We’ve been conditioned to view righteousness as synonymous with ease—that a righteous person is happy, rich, bursting with health and enjoying love and admiration from all around. Consequently, we expect our faith walk to resemble the proverbial bed of roses. But if you’ve been a Christian for any number of days, that description likely doesn’t map onto your personal experience.
Tumultuous
Psalm 13 depicts David in deep emotional turmoil. Not only is he sandwiched between the devil and the deep blue sea, he has altogether lost heaven’s audience! God is seemingly not listening to any of his many pleas for help. He’s a forgotten loner in profound distress.
Have you ever been there? I know I have. Very often, that seems like my regular abode. Good breaks for me seem few and far between. But let’s stay with the biblical David for now. The youngest of Jesse’s eight boys, he’s probably not mature enough to take on huge responsibilities. Still, his father assigns him to shepherd flocks of sheep in jungles infested with ferocious beasts, like bears, lions, foxes, and what have you. Before long, the teenager is dueling monsters determined to slaughter his sheep. But David is so intent on fulfilling his father’s bidding even at the jeopardy of his life.
Energized by passion, he battles to rescue a young lamb from a hungry lion’s paws! And he indeed kills the intruder and rescues his sheep. Not ones, not twice! Not just from a lion, but from a bear too! Now if you have doubts, that’s not fiction; it’s gospel truth! Yet, when David is with his “big brothers”, they mock him. “How are you holding up to that childish task of trailing a few sheep?” With no desire to impress, David never tells his family of his wilderness feats. He’s been pigeonholed into a predetermined slot, and in the opinion of his assessors, that’s where he belongs.
Two items are forever strapped to the shepherd boy, a sling and a harp. With the sling he fights enemies. With the hap he strums praises to the Lord. When foes strike, they find him immensely charged with a praise anointing! A man of praise is a man of war—in fact, the name David means “Man of War!” Do you know? A huge portion of the Book of Psalms consists of songs that David composed in his troubles! “God inhabits the praises of His people (Psl 22:3). No wonder, beasts were no match for a youth whose God was his strength.
The Valley of Baca
“The Lord is close to the brokenhearted…” (Psa 34:18). He accompanies them through dark, desolate valleys. The place of trouble is the place of miracles! Under the shadow of the Almighty is a place called “The Secret Place of the Most High!” (Psalm 91) It’s not a laxity enclosure for joyriders. It’s a refuge for the weary. It’s where wounded soldiers go to recuperate in readiness for the next battle. It’s the place from which Elijah begged God to take his life because he didn’t think he could endure another beating. But it’s also the place where he ate and slept as angels prepared him for his next assignment.
“Blessed is the man, whose help is of thee; he hath ordained (thy) goings in his heart, in the valley of tears, in the place which he hath set. For the giver of the law shall give blessing, they shall go from virtue into virtue; God of gods shall be seen in Zion (Psa 84:5-7 ~Wycliffe Bible (WYC)
The book of Psalms is a great place to find comfort in troublous times. But it’s also a manual for personal tuition—a classroom where we meet other pilgrims who built stamina through tough training.
Is life hitting you too hard? You are not alone! “God’s eyes are on the righteous, and His ears are attentive to their cry” (Psa 34:15). It’s impossible for anything to escape God’s eyes or ears. If He seems silent and detached when you need Him to act quickly, take heart; the trying of your faith will ultimately produce a believer of immovable stability. [James 1:2-4]
Some Essential Lessons
- Our faith in God must be based on Who God is rather than on our personal experiences. GOD IS LOVE and His nature does not change. Getting to know Him that way will sustain our confidence when personal attacks cause us to question the validity of His care.
- The Bible is the inerrant Word of God. It is true, correct, timely, and absolutely able to speak into our situations. Studying Holy Scriptures prepares, conditions and toughens us ahead of challenges that await us in future. To trust God is to trust His Word, and it’s hard to trust His Word if we don’t know what it says.
- Upholding cordial relations with other believers is key. Fellow saints provide buffers we can lean on when we are drained. Sometimes, Christians engage in unnecessary wrangles or fail to cultivate sweet accord with those around them. But we all need the warmth, care and compassion that cannot freely flow in antagonistic environments.
- In addition to the point above, we should avoid all company that weakens our godly foundations. If the people we hang around are always tearing others down with mean words, defaming church, ministers, Christians, the Bible, etc. the Word of God will have no place to grow in our hearts. It will not flourish and become a reliable shield.
- Our Christian life is two sided. It has a Godward side and a man-ward side. Paul admonishes us in Ephesians 6:10 “…take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and HAVING DONE ALL, to STAND…” In other words, God has done His part, now do yours!
May God’s richest blessings pave all your paths this week!